The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lowered its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 152,348 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 80,125 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.06% of Allstate worth $29,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alteri Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $492,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,000. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 33,470 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,453,000 after buying an additional 15,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. boosted its position in Allstate by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 3,566 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $204.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,169,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,248. The company has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $198.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.02. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ALL. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.20.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.